Along with recent advancement in IT technology, paper documents are gradually being replaced by electronic (digital) documents. Accordingly, an information collection/information accumulation approach using an information communication medium (online) such as the Internet is becoming mainstream in place of a conventional face-to-face information collection approach.
For the purpose of expanding a current business or launching/developing a new business, a service provider has collected/accumulated information using the following methods (1) to (5).
(Conventional Technique 1)
As an information collection/accumulation method employed as part of such marketing activities in real world, opinions (reports) with respect to products or services provided by the service provider have been directly collected/accumulated from customers. This method mainly focuses on grasping more general opinion/trend by targeting an area where age and a male-female ratio is close to national average. Concretely, for example, samples of products (already-released products or new products) are passed out in a crowded area such as an area around a station, and use feeling, point to be improved, opinion/desire, and the like with respect to the products are collected/accumulated at a future date through a mailed questionnaire or communication means such as telephone.
(Conventional Technique 2)
As a general online information collection approach, there is known a method in which an online message board is set up for free posting of opinion, desire or the like.
(Conventional Technique 3)
Further, as a method for collecting unspecified large number of information, there is known a method that collects/accumulates information contained in the web page (including blog or the like) that the information provider itself sets up by utilizing Internet search sites.
(Conventional Technique 4)
Further, there is known an online service system in which the individual users (information providers) make a contract with the service provider and, based on the contract, the service provider collects/accumulates personal or private information of the users, their purchasing habit or trend, and the like as needed. Through such an online service system, information relating to a product that the user has actually purchased, information relating a product that the user has not purchased although he or she has checked the product, information relating to a product that the user has recommend to another user, and the like are collected/accumulated on an as-needed basis. The service provider uses such information to pick up products that a target user really want based on his or her past purchasing trend and display together with search results, to thereby promote further purchasing. Further, the service provider can urge the user to take precautions by using such information so as to, e.g., prevent him or her from purchasing the same item that he or her purchased five years ago.
(Conventional Technique 5)
As a patent application relating to the present invention, there is known “Coupon issuance method for issuing coupon to information provider as reward, coupon issuance system for issuing coupon to information provider, and recording medium storing coupon issuance program for issuing coupon to information provider” (refer to e.g., Patent Document 1). This is a technique aiming to increase the number of messages (information) to be posted, through a network, on a posting site and collect a large number of quality and useful information from the viewpoint of the user, such as “word-of-mouth” information. Concretely, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 accumulates personal information and past posting history of the information provider, checks the content of the posted information, determines the accumulated personal information and past posting history (the number of posting, quality of posted information, and the like), and generates coupon information based on the determination.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-268093